Spring assemblies



March 1966 w. v. SLOMINSKI ETAL 3,

SPRING ASSEMBLIES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 30, 1963 INVENTORS W41.TEE (/610/4/11/5/6/ WWW March 15, 1966 w, v. s| oM| s T 3,240,482

SPRING ASSEMBLIES Filed Sept. 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5WCJLTEQ 1/ SLOM/AASZ/ fa gas F. .JQ/L/KO Mandi/Wad United States Patent()1 3,240,482 SPRING ASSEMBLIES Walter V. Slominski, Garfield Heights,Ohio, and George F. Janka, Georgetown, Ky., assignors to Hoover Ball andBearing Company, Saline, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Sept.30, 1963, Ser. No. 312,455 7 Claims. (Cl. 267102) This invention relatesgenerally to upholstered seat structures and more particularly to animproved wire spring assembly for such structures.

Some upholstered seating structures are designed with a chord distance,namely, the straight line distance between the spring supporting rails,sufliciently great that elongated spring structures cannot be extendedbetween the rails without undesirably large deflections in the springsand a corresponding reduction in the desired stiffness of the loadsupporting port-ion of the seat structure. As a result, in seatingstructures of this type it has been necessary in the past to addauxiliary frame rails, thereby adding significantly to the final cost ofthe seat structure and adding to the complexity and weight of the frame.It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improvedspring assembly for seating structures of this type which does notrequire auxiliary frame rails for support, is readily installed on therails, and incorporates structure which shortens the effective chorddistance over which deflection of the spring can occur.

In the spring assembly of this invention, elongated wire springs, ofsinuous wire, which is shown in the drawing, or formed wire, which iswell known and is illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 4 and of US. PatentNo. 3,095,189, owned by the assignee of this application, type havingtransverse cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected byconnecting wire portions, are used. These types of springs have aresilient resistance to lateral bending characteristic and are describedherein generically as zigzag springs, so that, as used herein, the termzigzag spring is inclusive of both formed wire and sinuous wire springs.A main zigzag spring of a length to substantially span the distancebetween a pair of frame rails on which the seat structure is to besupported is attached or formed integral with cantilever supports whichare mounted on the rails and extended inwardly toward each other. Eachsupport is clipped at one point to a frame rail and is engaged with theframe rail at another point so that the support is restrained againstpivoting under load. Each support is in turn engaged with at least twolongitudinally spacedportions of the main spring so as to likewisesupport the spring and at the same time restrain the spring againstpivotal movement at its support. As a result, the effective chorddistance over which the spring can deflect is reduced to the distancebetween cantilever supports. The size of the cantilever supports and thepoints at which the cantilever supports are engagedwith the spring canbe dimensioned to provide the desired effective chord distance. Thecantilever supports and the spring can be formed of a single length ofzigzag wire bent to. the desired shape, or separate lengths of wirewhich are bent to the desired shapes and subsequently clipped together,but in any event, the cantilever supports and the spring are assembledso that they can be readily mounted on 3,240,482 Patented Mar. 15, 1966ice supporting rails spaced a predetermined distance from each other.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description, the appendedclaims, and the accornpanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a transverse sectional view of a seating structure framehaving a spring assembly of this invention mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1,with some parts removed for the purpose of clarity;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional view looking substantiallyalong the line 13-3 in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 4 is a foreshortened sectional view, illustrated similarly toFIG. 1, illustrating a modified form of the spring assembly of thisinvention;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view, illustratedsimilarly to FIGS. 1 and 4, illustrating another modified form of thespring assembly of this invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view looking substantiallyalong the line 66 in FIG. 5.

With reference to the drawing, one form of the spring assembly of thisinvention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2mounted on a furniture frame 12 which is illustrated as including frontand rear frame rails 14 and 16, respectively, and supporting legs 18.The spring assembly 10 consists of a plurality of individual springunits, indicated generally at 20, which .are identical and only one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 1. The units 20 are mounted in a closely spacedside-by-side relation on the frame 12 as shown in FIG. 2, the spacingbetween units 20 depending on the particular seat structure beingassembled. The units 20 are connected by a border wire 22 and tie wires23 and 24 each of which is secured to each of the spring units 20 byspring clips 26 of conventional construction.

The spring unit 20 consists of a single length of zigzag Wire,illustrated as being sinuous wire, which is bent to form an elongatedmain spring member 28 that is of a length such that it substantiallyspans the distance between the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16. Themain spring member 28 is bent so that at its front end it has a V-shape,or what is referred to as a fish-mouth, front end portion 30 whichincludes a bottom leg portion 32 and a top leg portion 34 which candeflect downwardly toward the portion 32 to impart the desiredresilience characteristics to the front end of the spring unit 20. Anedge wire member 36, secured by clips 38 to the main spring member 28,projects forwardly and upwardly and is secured to the border wire 22 ata position in substantially vertical alignment with the front frame rail14.

The main spring 28 has cross wire portions 40, adjacent ones of whichare connected by generally U-shape connecting wire portions 42 and asillustrated in FIG. 2 the main spring 28 is stretched in certainportions relative to other portions so that the spacing between adjacentcross wire portions 40 varies. During deflection of the spring 28, thecross wire portions 40 function as torsion bars to impart the resilientresistance to laterial deflection desired in the spring 28. By formingthe spring 28 so that the spacing between the cross wire portions 40 isvaried over the length of the spring, the relative stiffness of thelongitudinally spaced portions of the spring 28 can be adjusted toprovide the spring with the desired deflection characteristics asexplained in Patent No. 2,639,763 owned by the .assignee of thisapplication.

The front end of the spring unit 20 is extended downwardly and returnbent upon itself to form a cantilever support 44, and the rear end ofthe unit 20 is similarly bent downwardly and return bent upon itself toform a rear cantilever support 46. The spring unit 20 is bent so thatapair of cross wire portions, indicated at 48 and 50, at the'front endof the unit are in substantial vertical alignment. The portion 50 isbelow the cross wire portion 48 and the unit 20 has a portion 52inclined downwardly and rearwardly from portion 50 and formed integralwith an upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion '54. portion 54, isadjacent to and below the rear end of the leg portion 32. A pair ofspring clips 58 connect adjacent "cross wire portions 40 in the springunit portions 32 and 56.

The rear end of the spring unit 20 is formed so that it also has a pairof aligned cross wire portions, indicated at 60 and 62, with the crosswire portion 62 being disposed below the cross wire portion 60. From thecross wire portion 62, the spring unit extends downwardly and forwardlyas shown at 64 and has an upwardly and forwardly inclined portion 66integral therewith which terminates in a portion 68 which is adjacent toand below a rear end portion 70 of the main spring member 28. Springclips 72 connect adjacent cross wire portions 40 in the portions 68 and70.

In the assembly of the spring unit 20 with the front and rear framerails 14 and 16, anchor means is provided for anchoring the cross wireportions 48 and 60 to the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16,respectively, so that the cantilever supports 44 and 46 engage the innersides 74 and 76 of the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16,respectively, at positions below the anchor means. In the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated in FIGS. 13,'this anchor means consists ofspring clips 78 and 80. Each of the spring clips has a body portion 82(FIG. 3) which is secured, such as by nails 84, to the top side of itssupporting frame rail. A hook-shape portion 86 of each clip ispositioned so that it extends inwardly of the frame rail on which it issupported and can be readily hooked to a cross wire portion of thespring unit 20.

The clips 78 and 80 can be secured to the top sides of the frame rails14 and 16 following which the spring unit 20. is manipulated so that thecross wire portions 48 and 60 are engaged with the hook portions 86 ofthe spring clips 78 and 80. When the cross wire portions 48 and 60 arethus positioned in the spring clip hook portions'86, the cross wireportion 50 in the front cantilever support 44 is in engagement with theinner side 74 of the-front frame rail 14 and the cross wire portion 62is in engagement with the inner side 76 of the rear frame rail 16. Sincethe loads on the spring unit 20 during use of the spring unit areessentially downwardly directed, these loads maintain the cross wireportions 50 and 62 in engagement with the front sides of the frame rails14 and 16. As a result, each of the cantilever supports 44 and 46 has atwo-point support, namely, the point at which it is anchored to a springclip and the point at which it engages the inner side of the frame rail,to thus provide a firmly mounted cantilever support which is restrainedagainst pivotal movement.

The main spring member 28 is provided at its front and rear ends withtwo-point supports, namely, the two points where it is clipped by theclips 58 to the front cantilever support 44, and the two points where itis clipped by the clips 72 to the rear cantilever support 48.Consequently, the effective chord distance over which the A portion 56,integral with the upper end of the main spring 28 can deflect anysubstantial distance is the distance between the clips 58 and the clips72. This distance may be adjusted for a desired seating structurecharacteristic by adjusting the inward distance through which eachcantilever support 44 and 46 extends and the points at which thesupports 44 and 46 are clipped to main spring 28. By virtue of theconstruction of each of the cantilever supports 44 and 46 from zig-zagwire, and the V-shape formed by the portions 52 and 54 in support 44 andthe portions 64 and 66 insupport 46 some limited deflection of each ofthe cantilever supports 44 and 46 can occur to thus obtain a spring unitconstruction having some yieldability at its front and rear ends.

The modified forms of the spring assembly of this invention illustratedin FIGS. 4-6 are similar in many respects and identical in others to thespring assembly 10 previously described and are illustrated mounted onthe front and rear frame rails 14 and 16. Like numerals, some with aletter suflix when the parts are similar but not identical, aretherefore used on the modified assemblies to indicate like parts on theassembly 10. The assembly shown in FIG. 4 includes a spring unit 20awhich is provided at its ends with cantilever supports 44a and 46a whichare somewhat different than the corresponding supports 44- and 46 in theunit 20. In all other respects the spring unit 20a is substantiallyidentical to the spring unit 20.

The cantilever support 44a is formed by connecting a separate sinuouswire spring member 90 to the wire member from which the main spring 28ais formed. The wire member 90 includes an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined section 92 and a pair of angularly related end sections 94 and96 which are substantially vertical and horizontal, respectively. Thelength of wire from which the main spring 28a is formed has a downwardend section 98 and a pair of cross wire portions in the section 98 aresecured by spring clips 100 to a pair of adjacent side-by-side crosswire portions in the section 94 of the member 90. Likewise, a pair ofcross wire portions in the wire section 32 are secured by spring clips102 to cross wire portions in the section 96 which are arranged in aside-by-side relation therewith. The cantilever support 46a issubstantially identical to the support 44a, and includes a separatesinuous wire member 99 having angularly related end sections 101 and 103secured by clips 104 and 105, respectively, to cross wire portions inthe length of wire from which main spring 28a is formed.

The unit 20a is assembled with the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16in the same manner that the spring unit 20 is assembled with the rails.The result is a spring unit which can deflect substantial distances onlyover the effective chord distance extending between the clips 102 and104. By extending the separate spring end sections 96-and 101 away fromeach other, as shown in FIG. 4, the effective chord distance islengthened relative to the length that it would have if the sections 96and 101 were extended toward each other. The cross wire portionsconnected by clips 100 and 105, and/or the clips themselves, engage theinner sides of rails 14 and 16 to provide for greater rigidity of thecantilever supports 44a and 4612 than is provided by the supports 44 and46 with the V-shape portions.

Another modified form of the spring assembly of this invention isillustrated in FIG. 5 in assembly with the front and rear frame rails 14and 16. The assembly shown in FIG. 5 differs from the assemblies shownin FIGS. 1 and 4 in the construction of the cantilever end supports forthe spring units, one of which is shown at 2%. The spring unit 201) hasa front cantilever support 44b which is substantially identical to thecantilever support 44a previously described, with two exceptions. In thesupport 44b, the section 96b of the separate spring length 9011 isextended rearwardly instead of forwardly as in the spring 90 to therebyshorten the effective chord distance for the unit 20b. Also, the section92b of the spring member 90b is formed from straight, rather thansinuous wire as in the case with the section 92 in spring member 90. Thecross wire portions in the section 9612 are secured by clips 106 (FIG.6) to side-by-side cross wire portions in the main spring member 28b.The rear cantilever support 46b is formed by return bending the lengthof sinuous wire from which the main spring 28b is formed in a mannersuch that the wire has an upwardly directed portion 108 which terminatesin a cross wire portion 110 which an anchored in the rear clip 80 and anintegral forwardly extending portion 112 which terminates in a portion114 parallel to a portion of the main spring 28b. Spring clips 116connect side-by-side cross wire portions in the portion 114 and the mainspring portion 28b. A cross wire portion 118 in the cantilever support46b engages the inner side of the rear frame rail 16. It can thus beseen that the cantilever support 46b functions in the spring unit 20blike the cantilever supports 46 and 46a in the units 20 and 20a, butwith diferent resilient characteristics. The unit 20b is mounted on theframe rails 14 and 16 so that it is assembled in the clips 78 and 80 inthe same manner that the unit 20 is installed.

From the above description, it is seen that this invention providesspring units 20-20b, inclusive, which are usable in seat frameassemblies having large chord distances since the eifective chorddistance through which the spring units can deflect is efiectivelyshortened by the inclusion of the cantilever supports at opposite endsof the spring unit. It is apparent from the various forms of the springunits illustrated and described above, that this invention is capable ofmany forms and is thus of a flexibility such that it is adaptable tovarious seating structures having various chord distances and variousseating requirements. In all of the illustrated embodiments of theinvention the main spring 28, 28a or 28b is hooked at both ends to theclips 78, 80 and extends downwardly therefrom so that either itsdownward extensions, or clips secured thereto, engage the inner sides ofthe frame rails 14 and 16, and return bent loops which constituteextensions of the main spring ends form the cantilever supports for themain spring.

It is to be understood, however, that it is within the purview of thisinvention to provide a cantilever support at one or the other end of anyone of the illustrated spring units, and support the opposite end of theunit in a conventional manner, thereby obtaining some reduction in theeffective chord distance. Also, while the units are shown as forming theseat portions of seating structures, they are also useful in formingseat backs. Consequently, the top and bottom sides of the spring unitsare sometimes referred to in the claims as the inner and outer sides,respectively.

It will be understood that the spring assemblies which are hereindisclosed and described are presented for purposes of explanation andillustration and are not intended to indicate limits of the invention,the scope of which is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a seat structure having front and rear frame rails, a spring unitformed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross wire portionsadjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, saidunit comprising a main spring return bent upon itself to form cantileversupports at the front and rear ends thereof each of which includes afirst pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-side relation toa pair of cross wire portions in said main spring, each of saidcantilever supports further including a second pair of adjacent crosswire portions one of which is positioned for engagement with the innerside of a frame rail on anchoring of the other to the top side of saidrail.

2. In a seat structure having front and rear frame rails, a spring unitformed of a single length of zigzag wire having longitudinally spacedcross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connectingwire portions, said unit comprising a main spring return bent uponitself at its ends to form cantilever supports at the front and rearends thereof disposed generally below said main spring and each of whichincludes a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-siderelation to a pair of cross wire portions in said main spring,.each ofsaid cantilever supports further including a second pair of adjacentcross wire portions one of which is positioned for engagement with theinner side of a frame rail on anchoring of the other to the top side ofsaid rail, each of said cantilever supports being inclined downwardlyfrom the cross wire portions secured to said main spring.

3. In a seat structure having a frame rail, a spring unit adapted to beattached to said rail, said unit being formed of a zigzag springmaterial having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent onesof which are connected by connecting wire portions, means forming areturn bent upon itself cantilever support at one end of said unitattached to adjacent ones of said cross wire portions spaced from saidone end, said support including a pair of adjacent cross wire portions,clip means secured to one side of said rail and having a hook portiondisposed adjacent an adjacent side of said rail, one of said lastmentioned pair of cross wire portions being engaged with said hookportion and the other being positioned in engagement with said adjacentframe side, said support including an inclined portion extending betweensaid other one of said last mentioned pair of cross wire portions andthe cross wire portions of said spring to which said support isattached.

4. A seat structure having a frame rail, a spring unit adapted to beattached to said rail, said unit being formed of a zigzag springmaterial having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent onesof which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit beingcomprised of a first length of spring material turned down at one endand including a first cross wire portion at said one end and a pair ofadjacent cross wire portions below said first cross wire portion, asecond length of spring material having a pair of cross wire portionssecured to said pair of cross wire portions and being inclined upwardlytherefrom and secured to longitudinally spaced portions of said firstlength inwardly from said one end thereof, clip means secured to oneside of said rail and having a hook portion disposed adjacent anadjacent side of said rail, and said first cross wire portions beingengaged with said hook portion and said pair of cross wire portionsbeing positioned in engagement with said adjacent frame side.

5. A spring unit formed of a single length of zigzag wire havinglongitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which areconnected by connecting wire portions, said unit comprising a mainspring having inner and outer sides and return bent end portions whichform cantilever supports, each of said return bent end portionsincluding a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-siderelation to a pair of adjacent cross wire portions in said main springintermediate the ends thereof, each of said cantilever supports furtherincluding a second pair of cross wire portions which are aligned in adirection extending generally laterally of said main spring, and each ofsaid cantilever supports including a substantially V-shape portionextending between and connected to said pairs of cross wire portions.

6. In a spring unit formed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spacedcross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connectingwire portions, said unit comprising a main spring having an end portionwhich terminates in a first cross wire portion, a spring sectionextending upwardly from said first cross wire portion to terminate in asecond cross wire portion, a spring section extending from said secondcross wire Portiontoward said end portion and terminating in a pair ofcross wire portions positioned in a side-by-side relation with a.

pair of cross wire portions in said end portion, and clip meansconnecting said pairs of cross wire portions together.

7. In a seat structure having a pair of spaced frame rails, a springunit formed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross Wireportions adjacent ones of Which are connected by connectingwireportions, said unit comprising a main spring return bent upon itselfto form cantilever supports at the ends thereof, each of said cantileversupports including a first pair of cross wire portions secured in aside-by-side relation to a pair of cross wire portions in said rnainspring, each of said cantilever supports further including a second pairof adjacent cross wire portions one of which is positioned forengagement with the inner side of a frame rail on anchoring of the otherto said rail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ARTHUR L. LAPOINT, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A SEAT STRUCTURE HAVING FRONT AND REAR FRAME RAILS, A SPRING UNITFORMED OF ZIGZAG WIRE HAVING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED CROSS WIRE PORTIONSADJACENT ONES OF WHICH ARE CONNECTED BY CONNECTING WIRE PORTIONS, SAIDUNIT COMPRISING A MAIN SPRING RETURN BENT UPON ITSELF TO FORM CANTILEVERSUPPORTS AT THE FRONT AND REAR ENDS THEREOF EACH OF WHICH INCLUDES AFIRST PAIR OF CROSS WIRE PORTIONS SECURED IN A SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION TOA PAIR OF CROSS WIRE PORTIONS IN SAID MAIN SPRING, EACH OF SAIDCANTILEVER SUPPORTS FURTHER INCLUDING A SECOND PAIR OF ADJACENT CROSSWIRE PORTIONS ONE OF WHICH IS POSITIONED FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INNERSIDE OF A FRAME RAIL ON ANCHORING OF THE OTHER TO THE TOP SIDE OF SAIDRAIL.